In Warwick, big turnout expected at hearing on converting Veterans Memorial High to a junior high school

By BARBARA POLICHETTI

Wednesday

Nov 27, 2013 at 12:00 AM

WARWICK, R.I. — It comes down to simple math, according to Supt. Richard D’Agostino.Acknowledging that it’s not easy to close schools that are a part of the community, D’Agostino says that the numbers clearly...

WARWICK — It comes down to simple math, according to Supt. Richard D’Agostino.

Acknowledging that it’s not easy to close schools that are a part of the community, D’Agostino says that the numbers clearly show, however, that Warwick needs to convert Warwick Veterans Memorial High School into a junior high and close the Aldrich and Gorton junior high schools by 2015.

“I understand that people don’t like change and that they have emotional ties to their schools, but that can blur our vision of the real facts,” D’Agostino said this week. “And if you look at the facts without the emotion, there is a very clear path for the Warwick schools.

“We have lost more than half our school population [during the past 35 years] and there is no reason for us to have three high schools when our students can easily be fit into two.”

D’Agostino’s remarks, as well as an open letter to the community that he drafted, came about a week before the School Committee is scheduled to hold two public hearings on the school-consolidation plan, which was put together by a special school district planning committee that has been working with the administration since June.

The hearings — expected to draw a large crowd of people who want Veterans to remain a high school — are set for Monday and Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. in the auditorium of Toll Gate High School.

D’Agostino said that part of the first meeting will be a presentation by the long-term study committee that voted unanimously in favor of the consolidation plan. A second hearing was scheduled to make sure there is time for the public to speak, he said.

Opponents have already begun to rally, protesting outside a recent meeting of the study committee and setting up a Facebook page called Save Warwick Veterans Memorial High School, which has garnered more than 1,600 “likes.”

If the School Committee approves the consolidation, Warwick will be left with two high schools and two junior high schools.

The high schools would be Pilgrim and Toll Gate, and the junior high schools would be Winman and the remodeled Warwick Veterans building.

In 1968, Warwick had a peak student population of about 19,400 students, D’Agostino said, and that number has now dropped to 9,600.

The secondary schools are operating at 55 percent capacity or less, he said. And while four elementary schools were closed in 2008 and 2009, the district has not tackled the issue of its underused junior high schools and high schools.

Last year the administration recommended closing Gorton Junior High — a controversial proposal that drew more than 500 people to a tumultuous School Committee hearing.

After debate, the school board voted not to close Gorton, saying that the district needed a more comprehensive long-term plan for all its secondary schools.

D’Agostino said that he thinks that mission has been fulfilled.

According to information that the school administration has presented to the planning committee in recent months, bringing the city down to two high schools and two junior high schools will save more than $4 million a year.

In addition, D’Agostino said, the school district avoids costly repairs needed on both the Gorton and Aldrich buildings. That work, which includes new roofs and heating systems, is estimated to total about $18 million per building, he said.

The school district needs money, he said, and the savings will be used to fund new programs and remodel the Veterans building as a “21st-century junior high school.”

“Our eye is totally on education and the need to improve programs to meet the needs of tomorrow’s students as opposed to those of the past,” D’Agostino said.

“To make changes, we need more funds — keeping buildings open for the sake of memories does not economically serve the students of Warwick Public Schools or the taxpayers of the city,” D’Agostino wrote in an open letter to the public that he recently released.

In it he urges residents to share their opinions with school officials and says, “to close any school is a difficult decision to make.”

“[But] if you eliminate the emotional factors, the picture becomes clear … .”

“… Please ask yourself what is best for our students?”

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.